EU Commission issues guidance on Digital Services Act child safety obligations

The European Commission published guidance on 8 October 2024 clarifying how very large online platforms and search engines must comply with Digital Services Act obligations to protect minors, including conducting risk assessments for systems that minors access, implementing age-appropriate design, restricting targeted advertising to children, and providing accessible reporting mechanisms. The guidance emphasizes that platforms must assess risks including exposure to illegal content such as child sexual abuse material, grooming, cyberbullying, and content that may harm child development, with mitigation measures required to be proportionate and effective.

Real-time pattern recognition that operates before a child sees harmful content satisfies the proactive mitigation standard the Digital Services Act establishes. As a Meta Business Partner and world-leading AI safety platform, Guardii detects escalation, coercion and sustained targeting in direct-message conversations across Instagram, Snapchat, Discord, Roblox and other services, with dedicated detection modules for grooming, sextortion, child sexual abuse material including AI-generated imagery, cyberbullying and age-inappropriate contact, surfacing a child in crisis to a parent, school or authority without exposing message content. This approach addresses multiple categories of harm the Commission's guidance identifies—illegal contact, exploitation, and developmental risk—while preserving the privacy protections that age-appropriate design requires.